Sea rescue ball unit

ABSTRACT

A sea rescue ball unit which comprises a plastic ball, a life belt folded into compact form and disposed in said plastic ball and having a gas bomb containing a compressed gas therein with an opening thereof normally being closed with a water-soluble solid, and which is operative in such a manner that, when the ball unit is dropped onto the sea, the water-soluble solid is dissolved in the sea water and the gas in the gas cartridge is injected into the life belt through the opening thereof.

United States Patent Ohtani [451 Sept. 26, 1972 [54] SEA RESCUE BALL UNIT 652,044 1/1963 ltaly ..9/31 1 [72] Inventor: Takemitsu Ohtlnl, L605, OTHER PUBLICATIONS Shimotoyooka-cho, Gumma pref., Takasaki, Japan The Washington Post Outdoors Section, Page C11, Sunday, May 5, 1968, SavA-L|fe" Photographs. [22] Filed: Aug. 21, 1970 [21] AWL 5 7 Pri nary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Paul E. Sauberer Attorney-Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 1, 1969 Japan ..44/82991 1571 ABSTRACT 26, 1970 Japan 81 17 A sea rescue ball unit which comprises a plastic ball, a life belt folded into compact form and disposed in said U.S. plastic and having a gas bomb containing a com- Cl. .3636 pressed gas therein an opening thereof normally [58] Fleld of Search 1-349, 400, being losed with a wate usolubie olid and which is 9/8 R operative in such a manner that, when the ball unit is dropped onto the sea, the water-soluble solid is dis- References Cited solyed in the sea water and the gas in the gas cartridge UNITED STATES PATENTS eirrgggted into the life belt through the opening 2,904,217 9/1959 Gurney ..9/317 X 7 7' M1 7' V FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 786,436 11/1957 Great Britain. 2/1149 4 b T; i 5

4 "e ,Zfi 7 I 14 (4M l 3 r I i PATENTEDSEP 26 1912 sum 2 or 2 FIG.4

Rl. mN NM EH VO m W M E M T ATTORNEYS SE-A RESCUE BALL UNIT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION or cartridge and operative in such a manner that, when it is dropped ontothe sea, a lifebelt disposed in a ball shell in a folded, compact form is promptly filled with a gas injected therein from said gas bomb to such an extent as-will be serviceable as life belt and breaks out of said ball shell.

The rescue ball unit according to-thepresent invention can be thrown to apoint remote from a rescue boat or the'like and is so designed'that, when it'drops on the sea, a water-soluble solid closing the mouthpiece of a gas bomb is promptly dissolved-in'the sea water intruding into a plastic ball shell through apluralityof apertures perforated therein, whereby a nozzle member having one end fitted to a life-belt is moved relative to a cylinder to establish communication between the gasbomb and the interior of the life-belt through an aperture at the other end of said nozzle member, with the result that said life belt is-quickly filled with a gas contained in saidgas bomb andbreaks out of the plastic ball shell.

2. Description-'of the Prior Art Many sea rescue ball units have been designed and placed on the market heretofore, and particularly-those of the type wherein a life belt is inflated with a gas in case of need, are prevailing in recent years. However, the rescue ballunits of the type described have a common disadvantage that the gas bomb used is complicated in construction and therefore expensive.

Further, the prior art rescue ball units are generally of the type which requires a person in the water to operate a trigger of a valve to send a gas into a life belt after-the rescue ball unit, thrown from a boat or the land, has been caught by him, or of the type which requires a person on the boat or land to pull the trigger im- SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided a sea rescue ball unit which is simple in construction, safe and reliable in operation and can be thrown over a predetermined range.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel gas bomb or cartridge for containing a compressed gas, which is suitable for use with a life belt and which is of simple construction and so designed as will supply a gas into a life belt concurrently with landing of the life belt on the sea.

Another object of the invention is to hold the life belt at the point of landing on the sea which has been inflated concurrently with landing.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement in which the inflated life I belt can be drawn towards a rescue boat or the land by a rope.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS There and other objects of the invention will become apparent from time to time as the following specification proceeds-and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein FIG. 1 is a view, partially shown in vertical cross section, of a gas bomb for use with a life belt, according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the gas bomb;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of a life belt;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the life belt; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a rescue ball unit with the life belt disposed in a folded form.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention will be particularly described hereinafter with reference to the drawings, and first of all, the construction of a gas bomb a to be fitted to a life belt b will be explained with reference to'FIGS. l and 3. The gas bomb a is for containing a compressed gas therein and has a mouthpiece 1. A nozzle body 2 is flanged at its lower end to provide a spring seat 3, and the upper end of the nozzle is flared outwardly as at 4 for locking engagement with an injection port 5 of the life belt b. Reference numeral 6 designate a supporting member for the nozzle body 2, secured to the gas bomb a and formed with openings 7 in diametrically opposed relation. The nozzle body 2 extends through the center of the supporting member 6, with the upper end thereof press-fitted in the injection port 5 of the life belt b. An

passage hole normally being held out of communication with the interior of said cylindrical member 9. The other end of the exhaust tube 8 is extended into the nozzle body 2. The cylindrical member 9 extends vertically downwardly, with its lower end located adjacent the bottom of the gas bomb a. Tablets 11 of a watersoluble compound are disposed between the mouthpiece l and the spring seat 3 of the nozzle body 2. A safety member 12 has one end thereof bifurcated as at 13 and is mounted on the gas bomb through the openings 7 of the nozzle body supporting member 6, with the arms 13 thereof extending engagingly between the spring seat 3 and the mouthpiece l to preclude premature inflation of the life belt. A spring 14 is provided around the nozzle body 2, with one end bearing against the spring seat 3 and the other end against the top wall of the supporting member 6. Another spring 15 is disposed within the cylindrical member 9 to hold the exhaust tube 8 in position by urging it upwardly. Reference numeral 16 designates a packing material to prevent vibration of the water-soluble tablets 11.

The gas bomb 0 of the construction described above is attached to the life belt b, with its nozzle body 2 being press-fitted in the injection port 5 of the latter.

Next, the construction of the life belt b will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The life belt b is provided with a loop of string 17 which is engaged around the circumferential length of said life belt and tied to form a loop 18, as shown in FIG. 3, and a life rope 19 is connected to said loop 18 through a loop clutch 20. The life belt b is further provided with a weight 21 connected thereto by means of a string 22. The string 22 may be secured to the life belt, either by means of an adhesive or by tieing it around the circumferential length of said life belt.

The life belt b, having the gas bomb a, the weight 21 and the loop of string 17 attached thereto in the manner described, is folded in such a manner as to wrap said gas bomb a and said weight 21 therein, and is placed in the folded state in a plastic container c of a size similar to that of a soft ball. The plastic container is composed of two substantially hemispherical sections each having a large number of apertures 23 perforated therein to provide for quick intrusion of water into said container. These two sections of the container, after placing the folded life belt b therein, are are put together and secured temporarily to each other as by means of a adhesive tape 24, or the like into the general shape of a ball. In placing the folded life belt b in the container 0, it is necessary to project the safety member 12 of the gas bomb a partially outwardly through an aperture provided complementally in the container c, and also to project preferably another hole provided in loop 18 outwardly through the same, as shown in FIG. 5, and this can be achieved easily by any one. A pull string 12a (FIG. may be used to facilitate removal of member 12, which string may be tied through an aperture 12b (FIGS. 1 and 2) provided in the non-bifurcated end thereof. Thus, one sea rescue ball unit having the size of a soft ball is completed.

The sea rescue ball unit of the invention, described above is used in the following manner: Namely, when a drowning person is found, the safety member 12 is pulled off initially preferably by the rescuer throwing the unit, which is effective in the event of the watersoluble tablets 11 have been inadvertently destroyed before use, and then the rescue ball unit is thrown towards the target, with one end of the life rope 19 being held in the hand. The water-soluble tablets l 1 are dissolved and disintegrated at once after the rescue ball unit has dropped onto the sea surface, and at this moment the nozzle body 2 is pushed down by the spring 14. Consequently, the exhaust tube 8 is pushed down against the biasing force of the spring and the passage hole 10 is brought into communication with the interior of the cylindrical body 9. Therefore, the compressed gas in the gas bomb 0 is rapidly gasified and injected into the life belt b, quickly inflating the same. By the inflation of the life belt b, the container c is cracked into two sections and the life belt b breaks out of said container. In the inflated state, the diameter of the circumferential length of the life belt is about 60 cm and the life belt is capable of keeping afloat a person having a weight of about 120 kgs. Upon inflation of the life belt c, the weight 22 is suspended into the water from said life belt, as shown FIG. 3, and thus the life belt can be held in the position where the rescue ball unit has landed.

As will be understood from the foregoing description, the sea rescue ball unit of the instant invention is very effectively used in the case of a disaster in the sea, river, swimming pool, etc.

I claim:

1. A sea rescue ball unit comprising in combination a plastic container (0) splittable into two halves; an inflatable life belt (1;) provided with a gas injection port (5); means for connecting an anchor weight (21) and a life rope (19) to said life belt; said life belt (b) disposed in said container (c) in a folded compact form; a gas cartridge (a) containing a compressed gas therein and having a gas injection nozzle member (2); said cartridge being actuatable by dissolving action of water soluble tablets (11) and being connected to said life belt by said nozzle member being directly press-fitted into said gas injection port, and said life belt being folded in such a manner as to wrap and to inherently cushion said gas cartridge within both said life belt and plastic container; said nozzle member (2) having one end thereof constituting an inner end and being flanged to provide a spring seat (14), and the other end being flared outwardly (4) for locking engagement with said gas injection port (5); said gas cartridge (a) further comprising a mouthpiece (1), a supporting member (6) for said nozzlemember (2) secured to said mouthpiece (l) and having a top and transverse sides provided with openings (7) formed therein generally in diametrically opposed relation; said nozzle member (2) extending outwardly through a top center aperture of said supporting member; a spring (14) mounted around said nozzle member with one end thereof bearing against said spring seat and the other end against the top wall of said supporting member; rigid tablets (ll) of watersoluble compound disposed between said mouthpiece and said spring seat to normally hold said nozzle in predetermined spaced relation apart from said cartridge mouthpiece (l); a rigid safety member (12) having bifurcated arms (13) at one end thereof and mounted on said gas cartridge (a) with said bifurcated arms (13) extending engagingly between said mouthpiece (l) and said spring seat (14) and through said openings (7) of said supporting member (6); a hollow cylindrical member (9) disposed in the interior of said gas cartridge; an exhaust tube (8) having one end thereof extending into said nozzle member with the other end extending partially into said cylindrical member and having a gas passage hole (10) formed diametrically transversely in the lower end portion thereof in communication with an axial bore provided therein for communication with an axial bore in said nozzle member (2); said passage hole (10) normally being held out of communication with the interior of said cylindrical member by another spring (15) disposed within said cylindrical member (9) to urge said exhaust tube upwardly, when said safety member or rigid tablets are in their initial conditions; said spring (15) )being of lesser strength than the first-mentioned spring (14) the latter of which is adapted to bias said nozzle (2) and exhaust tube (8) downwardly to counteract said latter-mentioned spring (15) responsive to removal of said safety member (12) and dissolving or breaking up of said tablets (11).

2. A sea rescue ball unit as defined in claim 1, in which said plastic container is formed with at least one perforation (23) to provide for intrusion of water therethrough to dissolve said tablets (1 1), and also with separate openings through which said safety member (12) and said life rope connecting means (18) are projected outwardly of the container.

3. A sea rescue ball unit comprising in combination a plastic container splittable into two halves; an inflatable life belt (b) provided with a gas injection port means for connecting an anchor weight (21) and a life rope (19) to said life belt; said life belt (b) disposed in said container (c) in a folded compact form; a gas cartridge (a) containing a compressed gas therein and having a gas injection nozzle member (2); said cartridge being actuatable by dissolving action of watersoluble tablets (11), and being connected to said life belt by said nozzle member being directly press-fitted into said gas injection port, and said life belt being folded in such a manner as to wrap and to inherently cushion said gas cartridge within both said life belt and 

1. A sea rescue ball unit comprising in combination a plastic container (c) splittable into two halves; an inflatable life belt (b) provided with a gas injection port (5); means for connecting an anchor weight (21) and a life rope (19) to said life belt; said life belt (b) disposed in said container (c) in a folded compact form; a gas cartridge (a) containing a compressed gas therein and having a gas injection nozzle member (2); said cartridge being actuatable by dissolving action of water soluble tablets (11) and being connected to said life belt by said nozzle member being directly press-fitted into said gas injection port, and said life belt being folded in such a manner as to wrap and to inherently cushion said gas cartridge within both said life belt and plaStic container; said nozzle member (2) having one end thereof constituting an inner end and being flanged to provide a spring seat (14), and the other end being flared outwardly (4) for locking engagement with said gas injection port (5); said gas cartridge (a) further comprising a mouthpiece (1), a supporting member (6) for said nozzle member (2) secured to said mouthpiece (1) and having a top and transverse sides provided with openings (7) formed therein generally in diametrically opposed relation; said nozzle member (2) extending outwardly through a top center aperture of said supporting member; a spring (14) mounted around said nozzle member with one end thereof bearing against said spring seat and the other end against the top wall of said supporting member; rigid tablets (11) of water-soluble compound disposed between said mouthpiece and said spring seat to normally hold said nozzle in predetermined spaced relation apart from said cartridge mouthpiece (1); a rigid safety member (12) having bifurcated arms (13) at one end thereof and mounted on said gas cartridge (a) with said bifurcated arms (13) extending engagingly between said mouthpiece (1) and said spring seat (14) and through said openings (7) of said supporting member (6); a hollow cylindrical member (9) disposed in the interior of said gas cartridge; an exhaust tube (8) having one end thereof extending into said nozzle member with the other end extending partially into said cylindrical member and having a gas passage hole (10) formed diametrically transversely in the lower end portion thereof in communication with an axial bore provided therein for communication with an axial bore in said nozzle member (2); said passage hole (10) normally being held out of communication with the interior of said cylindrical member by another spring (15) disposed within said cylindrical member (9) to urge said exhaust tube upwardly, when said safety member or rigid tablets are in their initial conditions; said spring (15) )being of lesser strength than the first-mentioned spring (14) the latter of which is adapted to bias said nozzle (2) and exhaust tube (8) downwardly to counteract said latter-mentioned spring (15) responsive to removal of said safety member (12) and dissolving or breaking up of said tablets (11).
 2. A sea rescue ball unit as defined in claim 1, in which said plastic container is formed with at least one perforation (23) to provide for intrusion of water therethrough to dissolve said tablets (11), and also with separate openings through which said safety member (12) and said life rope connecting means (18) are projected outwardly of the container.
 3. A sea rescue ball unit comprising in combination a plastic container (c) splittable into two halves; an inflatable life belt (b) provided with a gas injection port (5); means for connecting an anchor weight (21) and a life rope (19) to said life belt; said life belt (b) disposed in said container (c) in a folded compact form; a gas cartridge (a) containing a compressed gas therein and having a gas injection nozzle member (2); said cartridge being actuatable by dissolving action of water-soluble tablets (11), and being connected to said life belt by said nozzle member being directly press-fitted into said gas injection port, and said life belt being folded in such a manner as to wrap and to inherently cushion said gas cartridge within both said life belt and plastic container.
 4. A sea rescue ball unit as defined in claim 3 in which said cartridge is provided with a safety member (12) disposed adjacent the tablets to preclude premature operation of said gas cartridge; and wherein said plastic container (c) is formed with at least one perforation (23) to provide for intrusion of water therethrough to facilitate dissolving of said tablets (11), and is further provided with separate openings through which said safety member (12) and said life rope connecting means (18) are projected outwardly of said container (c). 